Title:
Rights and freedoms of status refugees in Costa Rica, particularly right to work, danger of expulsion, possibility of exiting and returning to Costa Rica and right to permanent residence [CRI8120]

Publication date:
13 March 1991

ecoi.net summary: Rights and freedoms of status refugees in Costa Rica, particularly right to work, danger of expulsion, possibility of exiting and returning to Costa Rica and right to permanent residence [CRI8120] [ID 174164]

Countries:
Costa Rica

Recommended citation:
IRB - Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada:
Rights and freedoms of status refugees in Costa Rica, particularly right to work, danger of expulsion, possibility of exiting and returning to Costa Rica and right to permanent residence [CRI8120], 13 March 1991
(available at ecoi.net)
http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/174164/276146_en.html (accessed 09 December 2016)

Rights and freedoms of status refugees in Costa Rica, particularly right to work, danger of expulsion, possibility of exiting and returning to Costa Rica and right to permanent residence [CRI8120]

The information that follows was given by
the regional director of the UNHCR in Costa Rica during a telephone
communication with the IRBDC on 13 March 1991.

People who are granted refugee status in
Costa Rica hold a special I.D. card that allows them to engage in a
variety of activities including, for example, opening of a bank
account. Status refugees can request a work permit, which is
normally granted for specific jobs or fields of work. In some cases
refugees may be denied a work permit; although infrequent, it is
usually denied on the grounds that the refugee would be displacing
Costa Rican manpower from the particular occupation or field of
work. Some businesses have a legal limitation on the number or
percentage of foreigners that can compose its workforce. However,
refugees who have resided for three or more years are automatically
entitled to a work permit, regardless of concerns for the
employment of Costa Rican nationals. The refugee is also
automatically entitled to a work permit if he or she is married to
a Costa Rican national or has children who were born in Costa
Rica.

The source added that there have been no
cases of expulsion of status refugees from Costa Rica. However, a
significant number of Nicaraguans searching for work have recently
entered Costa Rica, and the immigration authorities have proceeded
to turn back those who are not considered refugees.

Status refugees can obtain permits for
leaving Costa Rica for a given period of time and returning.
However, in most cases refugees request exit and return permits to
visit countries other than their own (for example, Salvadoreans may
request a permit to visit Panama). There are few cases of refugees
asking for permits to visit their countries of origin, most of them
limited to people who have to return for a short period of time for
very specific circumstances (death of a close relative could be an
example). A refugee who returns to his/her country of origin
without a Costa Rican exit permit and without a justifying motive
could possibly lose his/her refugee status in Costa Rica, since the
person would be demonstrating that he/she has no reason to fear
return. Under a voluntary repatriation program, a number of
refugees are currently returning to their country of origin for
brief periods in specially organized trips to see if the conditions
at their original place of residence allow their definitive
return.

Finally, the source indicated that status
refugees in Costa Rica can apply for permanent residence, but lose
their refugee status upon the granting of permanent residence.
Status refugees who have resided for five years in Costa Rica can
apply for Costa Rican citizenship. The UNHCR official pointed out
that foreigners need a work permit whether they are status refugees
or permanent residents.

An officer of the Embassy of Costa Rica in
Ottawa provided the information that follows during a telephone
communication with the IRBDC on 14 March 1991.

Due to increasing problems poised by the
presence of numerous refugees and illegal immigrants in Costa Rica,
the Costa Rican government's policy towards them has been changing
recently and becoming somewhat more strict. The source indicated
that the latest change affecting refugees in Costa Rica was
notified to the Costa Rican Embassy last week (early-March 1991),
indicating that refugees who voluntarily leave Costa Rica for any
country are not allowed back into the country, unless they apply
for obtaining refugee status again. Exceptions to this new measure
include refugees who travel under a special program such as, for
example, the one described by the UNHCR officer quoted above.

The same source added that the usual
prerequisite for requesting permanent resident status is living in
Costa Rica for two years with temporary resident status. However,
given the number of foreigners currently residing in Costa Rica,
authorities are being more cautious than in previous years in their
granting of permanent residence permits, since people have the
legal right to request Costa Rican citizenship after some years of
being permanent residents of Costa Rica (five years in the case of
Central Americans, seven years in the case of all other
foreigners).